Troupe 0784 takes on districts and beyond

BY ANNABELLE ROSA

On Saturday, December 8, 2018, the CCHS Thespians participated in District 13’s Thespian Competition. District competitions are held across the state of Florida where several schools have the ability to present pieces ranging from pantomimes to musical numbers.

The breakdown of the scoring scale used for the competition, from the lowest to the highest scoring, is as follows: Poor, Good, Excellent, Superior and Critic’s Choice. All of the pieces that receive the title of Critic’s Choice also received a Superior award.

Those who win a Superior at the district level are then able to perform at the Thespian State Competition in March. Last year, the CCHS Thespians, referred to as Troupe 0784, received six Superiors. As of this year, however, Troupe 0784 was able to acquire 19 Superiors and four Critic’s Choice awards, significantly improving from the previous year.

In the category of contrasting monologues, junior Attira Claude received a Critic’s Choice award. Claude’s monologues were tied together by the use of a gun used to hunt down a deer and a gun used to shoot an innocent civilian. Her first monologue, which was meant to be comedic, told the story of a hunter chasing down a deer, while her dramatic monologue told the story of a cop shooting a civilian.

“With my comedic monologue I wanted to disarm the audience first, get them to laugh, show some physicality,” Claude said. “My dramatic monologue I think kind of spoke to me. I wanted the audience to see this type of unarmed shooting story from an officer’s perspective. Being someone who is both black and has a parent in law enforcement, seeing the chance to tell the story of a … shooting from a black officer who pulled the trigger was compelling. I read it and it was like ‘well, duh, this is for me.’”

“I am so proud of Troupe 0784,” Lavaniegos said. “And I can’t wait to go to states to represent our troupe and all of District 13.”

Juniors Reese Abrahamoff and Rylee Berger also obtained a Critic’s Choice and Superior for the duet acting scene entitled “Baby with the Bathwater,” in which they portrayed a couple bickering over their newly born child. The two utilized British accents and a baby doll that they had named “Baby” in order to add personal touches to the scene.

“One of the absolute best parts of the day was when Reese and I found out we won Critic’s Choice in duet acting,” Berger said. “We were watching another event so [we] couldn’t make any noise but we texted each other at the same time and then ran to each other basically screaming– we were in so much shock. I was so proud of us and the entire troupe and haven’t been that happy ever.”

Berger also achieved a Critic’s Choice for her student-directed scene from the play “Medea,” in which a woman slaughters her children in order to spite her husband.

“The most difficult part of doing a student-directed scene was working on my scene (which is so reliant on visuals, volume and ensemble work) without the entire cast present as there were so many other events that needed to be rehearsing,” Berger said. “It was also really difficult to be able to put my trust in other people to carry out my ideas and vision, but it definitely worked out and I am so happy with the result.”

Sophomore Isabella-Mia Lavaniegos, who participated in the technical category of costume construction, also took home a Critic’s Choice award for her costume design for the musical “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.” Lavaniegos also received the position of technical district representative.

“I am so proud of Troupe 0784,” Lavaniegos said. “And I can’t wait to go to states to represent our troupe and all of District 13.”

Other schools from District 13 also presented various pieces, some of the most notable being Troupe 6153’s rendition of “We Both Reached for the Gun” and Troupe 4255’s ensemble acting piece from “Macbeth.”

The District 13 Competition allowed the CCHS Thespians to perform their various pieces and presented them with the opportunity to be awarded for their talents.

“I am super proud of all my fellow troupe members,” Claude said. “I found out my score from them all together. We worked, sweat and finally celebrated together.”

The following are some of the students and pieces that achieved a superior ranking:

• Donna Nesselroth – Student Choreography – Too Darn Hot
• Donna Nesselroth, Rachel Goldberg, and Rebecca Salamon – Small Group Musical – There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This
• Adrianna Arosemena, Alexandra Garcia, Brielle Rodriguez, Elaina Rodriguez, Francesca Duarte, Francesco Brusco, Isabella Arosemena, Kayla Kissel – Large Group Musical – Pandemonium
• Rachel Goldberg – Student Directed – Doll’s House Part 2
• Alana Agresspahl, Annabelle Rosa, Ashley Reep, Donna Nesselroth, Emily Kaufman, Gabriela Phillips, Hannah Santanelli, John Yearick, Nicholas Ibanez, Nicole Ibanez, Olivia Vera, Rylee Berger, Sabrina Rapoport – Large Group Musical – Snuff That Girl
• Rylee Berger – Scenic Design – Anatomy of Gray
• Alexander Brower, Rylee Berger, Gabriela Phillips, Rachel Goldberg – Ensemble Acting – Fugue
• Gabriela Phillips and Olivia Vera – Duet Acting – Driver’s Test
• Hallie Israel and Will Barringer – Duet Musical – Make Me Happy
• Alexander Brower and Darby Cook – Duet Acting – Watch the Lips
• Donna Nesselroth and Nick Ibanez – Duet Acting – Boiling People in my Coffee
• Emily Kaufman and Reese Abrahamoff – Duet Musical – This World will Remember Us
• Emily Kaufman – Solo Musical – No More Fear
• Olivia Vera – Solo Musical – Lost in the Brass
• Alexander Brower – Monologues

There were also four students who received the ranking of Critic’s Choice for their efforts in their categories:

• Rylee Berger and Reese Abrahamoff- Duet Acting – Baby in the Bathwater
• Rylee Berger – Student Directed Scene – Medea
• Atira Claude – Monologues
• Isabella- Mia Lavaniegos

Disclaimer: Annabelle Rosa is a member of the CCHS Thespians.

Photo courtesy of  Gabriela Phillips